


Freaks of a Feather

by Kariachi



Category: Ben 10 Series
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 21:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18352481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kariachi/pseuds/Kariachi
Summary: Never having run into the Tennysons, a whole new door opens up for Kevin...





	Freaks of a Feather

Really it hardly even counted as a job, they were robbing a grocery store for fuck’s sake. After all, it wasn’t like any of them could’ve just waltzed in and bought anything without drawing attention, even if the police hadn’t been so on edge in this city they jumped at every fly’s cough. So, stealing their food it was and with their powers they certainly weren’t going to just knock over convenience stores and gas stations.

Besides, finding the things they needed to stay healthy wasn’t easy if you didn’t hit at least one real grocers’.

Acidbreath had made breaking in easy, and no alarms had even gone off when he melted the back door. They’d all thought it fortunate, this was going to make an easy robbery, with plenty of food and hopefully some cash by the end of the night. The trio had spread out with glee, grabbing bags and filling them with whatever they felt would stay good and taste good. Snacks, canned goods, dry goods, drinks-

Frightwig had been heading for the bakery section when she all but ran headfirst into the kid. For a brief moment she couldn’t figure out what had happened, her mind just not accepting the presence of a child who couldn’t have been much older than the brat that had taken out Zombozo standing alone in a grocery store in the middle of the night. The first thing she’d noticed was the look on his face, like he was daring her to start something and promising to finish it at the same time, then the bags of food gripped tight in one hand, and finally the overall state of him. He was skinny, and filthy, and his clothes were tattered. It was a too-familiar sight.

But she couldn’t waste time on it, not her problem.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed, brat?” she’d said, crossing her arms, and he’d just raised an eyebrow and scowled.

“Shouldn’t you be looking for a new stylist?” Okay, no, she was gonna- but she didn’t get the chance, because whatever she could’ve said or done was cut off by Acidbreath’s laughter. Frightwig smirked as he and Thumbscrew stepped into view behind the kid. Just the sight of her boys would put this mouthy brat in his place.

He turned, he tensed, and he began to spark.

Back came the memories, worse, and from the way he almost flinched it was clear Thumbscrew was remembering too. Acidbreath laughed louder, grinning at the boy.

“Well, well, looks like we found another freak!” Somehow the boy’s muscles wound up even more and Thumbscrew, for once in his life the smart one, backed off as the lights began to flicker.

“I am not-”

“Of course you are,” Acidbreath said, reaching out his free hand and putting it on the kid’s shoulder- the poor thing flinched and turned his head like he might bite it, “just like us.”

Frightwig walked around him so she could stand among the men who had become more-or-less her brothers and almost chuckled when she saw the kid’s face. He was looking them over and, it seemed, slowly beginning to realize that they actually were like him. Briefly she wondered if he was like Thumbscrew- who stepped carefully back into the aisle beside her- and had never seen another freak before them.

“Really?” Acidbreath snorted, turning and breathing heavily on one of the shelves. The boy backed up as it and everything on it melted away under the green haze. When he looked back up the other two waved, Frightwig with her hair. He swallowed and seemed to relax just a bit.

“Wouldn’t have thought another freak’d follow us in,” Thumbscrew noted out of hand, and the boy’s face scrunched up in distaste.

“Who said I followed you?” They all blinked at each other. Independently they had each come to the conclusion that he’d seen the melted door and taken his opportunity.

“Well then,” Acidbreath said, raising a brow and crossing his arms, “how did you get in then?” The boy stood straighter, making defiant eye contact.

“The front door.”

“The front door?” He smirked, raising his hand. He was sparking again. Frightwig could see the gears in Acidbreath’s head turning, practically hear them grinding together, and grabbed his arm.

“Boys,” she said, “huddle, and you,” she pointed at the boy with a weight, “don’t move.”

The trio convened in the bakery, snatching up bread and cookies and eyeing up cakes as they talked.

“If the kid really can open electric doors with his powers, he could come in real handy,” Acidbreath said, carefully weighing the choice between two loaves of braided bread. Thumbscrew made a contemplative noise from over by what looked like noodle cakes.

“Kid needs a home.” Acidbreath rolled his eyes, but a quick look from Frightwig shut him up. Zombozo had found him, same as them, but he’d been safe in his mother’s home. Not a nice home, or a nice life, or any hope to speak of, but he’d had food in his belly and a roof over his head. She and Thumbscrew, they’d spent some time on the streets before they were found.

(She was never going to forget the blood on her father’s face, busted up when he’d tried to cut her hair by force. Whatever it took to make her confirm, make her normal. She’d run the next day rather than head to school.)

“If nothing else, he shouldn’t be out in the world alone, Davie.” Acidbreath glared at her, but it wasn’t a harsh glare. One way or another they were all in agreement on the topic of the boy. They took a moment to decide what dessert a small boy would probably like best- Frightwig’d voted for fudge brownies, but the boys had vetoed it and now a package of mudslides was tucked safely in one of Thumbscrew’s bags- and headed back.

He wasn’t there.

This didn’t surprise any of them though, Acidbreath even laughed over it, and they simply fanned out to track him down. His bags had only been half full, after all, and he didn’t seem like he would have left without filling them just because they were there. None of them had made themselves enough of a threat for that. And it turned out they were right, finding him in the dairy section trying to choose some cheese.

“Didn’t catch your name, Squirt,” Frightwig said, chuckling when he spun to face her and started sparking again. She stopped a respectful distance away and waited for him to calm down.

“Kevin.”

“Well Kevin,” she said, settling down on the floor nearby, leaning against a freezer, that seemed to make him relax even more, “we were talking-”

“I noticed.” Frightwig narrowed her eyes at him, the little smartass…

“Like I said, we were talking and-”

“How’d you like a spot on the crew?” This time it was a full-on glare, and aimed at Acidbreath. He just smirked at her. Kevin looked him up and down with suspicion.

“A spot on the crew?”

“You don’t look like you’ve got a place to go,” Thumbscrew said, trailing into the aisle, “we don’t have any place to go. May as well have nowhere together.” The kid chewed his lip and Acidbreath grinned again.

“After all,” he said, “you know what they say. Freaks of a feather.” Kevin turned slowly, back and forth. Inspecting them, sizing them up, judging them. Frightwig and Thumbscrew tried to appear as safe as possible. It may not have worked so well, given he then turned back to Acidbreath with another defiant look.

“I expect an equal cut.” Acidbreath broke out laughing again and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Sure thing, kid,” he said, shoving his bags at him, “so long as you pull your weight.”

It wasn’t until Acidbreath had walked away and Kevin turned the sweetest doe eyes imaginable on Thumbscrew, silently compelling him to take all the bags himself, that Frightwig was truly sure this was a good idea.


End file.
